Julie Adams

For generations of moviegoers, the name Julie Adams conjured up an arresting black-and-white image of the actress swimming gracefully through the murky waters of the Amazon - actually, Wakulla Springs...
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Broadway star Audra Mcdonald made history at the Tony Awards on Sunday night (08Jun14) when she became the most decorated actress on the New York stage. McDonald picked up her sixth Tony for portraying jazz and blues legend Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, putting her ahead of five-time winners Angela Lansbury and the late Julie Harris for the most competitive wins by a Broadway star.
The Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play win also gave McDonald the first Tony Awards grand slam - she has previously won gold as a best featured actress in a play (A Raisin in the Sun and Master Class), a best lead actress in a musical (The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess) and a best featured actress in a musical (Ragtime and Carousel).
Meanwhile, Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston was at the beginning of his Tonys journey - he scored Sunday night's Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his New York stage debut as President Lyndon B. Johnson in All The Way, which also picked up the Best Play Tony.
Former Tonys host Neil Patrick Harris was also a first-time winner - he walked away with the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his role as a gender-bending rocker in Hedwig & the Angry Inch.
Accepting his award, the gay star paid tribute to his partner David Burtka, stating, "I love you so much and I am so happy that we got to do this. Thank you for your sacrifices," and his kids Harper and Gideon, adding, "I'm so sorry that I haven't been able to spend as much time with you as I wish I could... I promise that as soon as this is done I'll be able to read books to you and put you to sleep."
The award marked a very special date in his family's history - Harris' parents were celebrating their wedding anniversary.
The actor's Broadway hit was the night's big winner, picking up a total of four awards. Hedwig also claimed the Best Revival of a Musical, Best Lighting and Lena Hall was honoured with the prize for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical.
A Raisin in the Sun and A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder were triple winners.
A Raisin in the Sun claimed Best Revival of a Play, while Brit Sofie Okonedo and Kenny Leon claimed Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play and Best Direction titles, respectively, and Gentleman's Guide landed awards for Best Musical, Best Costume Design and Best Direction of a Musical (Darko Tresnjak).
The full list of 2014 Tony Awards winners is:
Best Play
All the Way
Best Musical
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Best Revival of a Play
A Raisin in the Sun
Best Revival of a Musical
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Best Book of a Musical
A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder - Robert L. Freedman
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
The Bridges of Madison County- Music & Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Bryan Cranston, All The Way
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Neil Patrick Harris, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Jessie Mueller, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Sophie Okonedo, A Raisin in the Sun
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
James Monroe Iglehart, Aladdin
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Lena Hall, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Beowulf Boritt, Act One
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Christopher Barreca, Rocky
Best Costume Design of a Play
Jenny Tiramani, Twelfth Night
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Linda Cho, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Natasha Katz, The Glass Menagerie
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Best Sound Design of a Play
Steve Canyon Kennedy, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Brian Ronan, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical
Best Direction of a Play
Kenny Leon, A Raisin in the Sun
Best Direction of a Musical
Darko Tresnjak, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder
Best Choreography
Warren Carlyle, After Midnight
Best Orchestrations
Jason Robert Brown, The Bridges of Madison County
Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre - Jane Greenwood (casting designer)
Isabelle Stevenson Award for Humanitarian Efforts - Rosie O'Donnell
Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre - Joseph P. Benincasa, Joan Marcus & Charlotte Wilcox

DreamWorks
For the bulk of every Rocky and Bullwinkle episode, moose and squirrel would engage in high concept escapades that satirized geopolitics, contemporary cinema, and the very fabrics of the human condition. With all of that to work with, there's no excuse for why the pair and their Soviet nemeses haven't gotten a decent movie adaptation. But the ingenious Mr. Peabody and his faithful boy Sherman are another story, intercut between Rocky and Bullwinkle segments to teach kids brief history lessons and toss in a nearly lethal dose of puns. Their stories and relationship were much simpler, which means that bringing their shtick to the big screen would entail a lot more invention — always risky when you're dealing with precious material.
For the most part, Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman handles the regeneration of its heroes aptly, allowing for emotionally substance in their unique father-son relationship and all the difficulties inherent therein. The story is no subtle metaphor for the difficulties surrounding gay adoption, with society decreeing that a dog, no matter how hyper-intelligent, cannot be a suitable father. The central plot has Peabody hosting a party for a disapproving child services agent and the parents of a young girl with whom 7-year-old Sherman had a schoolyard spat, all in order to prove himself a suitable dad. Of course, the WABAC comes into play when the tots take it for a spin, forcing Peabody to rush to their rescue.
Getting down to personals, we also see the left brain-heavy Peabody struggle with being father Sherman deserves. The bulk of the emotional marks are hit as we learn just how much Peabody cares for Sherman, and just how hard it has been to accept that his only family is growing up and changing.
DreamWorks
But more successful than the new is the film's handling of the old — the material that Peabody and Sherman purists will adore. They travel back in time via the WABAC Machine to Ancient Egypt, the Renaissance, and the Trojan War, and 18th Century France, explaining the cultural backdrop and historical significance of the settings and characters they happen upon, all with that irreverent (but no longer racist) flare that the old cartoons enjoyed. And oh... the puns.
Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman is a f**king treasure trove of some of the most amazingly bad puns in recent cinema. This effort alone will leave you in awe.
The film does unravel in its final act, bringing the science-fiction of time travel a little too close to the forefront and dropping the ball on a good deal of its emotional groundwork. What seemed to be substantial building blocks do not pay off in the way we might, as scholars of animated family cinema, have anticipated, leaving the movie with an unfinished feeling.
But all in all, it's a bright, compassionate, reasonably educational, and occasionally funny if not altogether worthy tribute to an old favorite. And since we don't have our own WABAC machine to return to a time of regularly scheduled Peabody and Sherman cartoons, this will do okay for now.
If nothing else, it's worth your time for the puns.
3/5
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20th Century Fox via Everett Collection
It may be hard to believe, but Michael Fassbender was actually in a movie other than 12 Years a Slave this year. The Oscar race has the tendency to eclipse everything else an actor has done that year, and many of the Academy Award-nominated actors have appeared in other film projects that haven't been pelted with awards this season. Some are more obscure than others. Some drew big crowds at the box-office, and others had us struggling to remember their titles. We're gonna take you on a tour through each actor's 2013 filmography, and pay special attention to the more obscure films they appeared in.
CHRISTIAN BALE, NOMINATED FOR AMERICAN HUSTLE, WAS ALSO IN...
Out of the Furnace, alongside Bat-brother-in-law Casey Affleck.
BRUCE DERN, NOMINATED FOR NEBRASKA, WAS ALSO IN...
Coffin Baby: The oddly titled Coffin Baby is actually a shortened version of the even odder title: Coffin Baby - The Toolbox Killer Is Back. The film is a low budget horror movie that follows a prolific serial killer, and features Bruce Dern in the role of Vance Henrickson.
Fighting for Freedom: Fighting for Freedom tells the story of two families struggling to prevent the deportation of a three year old Mexican girl in the face of fierce legal opposition.
Northern Borders: Northern Borders is a coming-of-age story that features the actor playing the grandfather of a young boy who is sent to live on his grandparents' farm.
Pete’s Christmas: Dern played grandpa again in a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie, which is about as far away from something like Nebraska as an actor can conceivably get. The film centered around a teen who is doomed to repeat his family's awful Christmas over and over a la Groundhog Day.
Unicorn Plan-It: This is an ongoing web series that featured the Oscar nominated actor in an episode of its second season.
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, NOMINATED FOR THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, WAS ALSO IN...
The Great Gatsby, but you already knew that.
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR, NOMINATED FOR 12 YEARS A SLAVE, WAS ALSO IN...
Half of a Yellow Sun: This drama about the life of a Nigerian revolutionary premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and was well recieved by critics, but fell off of most radars.
Savannah: Surprisingly, Ejiofor was involved in another film centering around cotton plantations in the Deep South. In Savannah, Ejiofor plays a free plantation worker named Ward Allen who struggles to break free of his plantation heritage.
MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, NOMINATED FOR DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, WAS ALSO IN...
Mud: Before Dallas Buyers Club was even released, awards talk was already being whispered around McConaughey and his work in Mud, a coming-of-age story that features the actor playing a drifter who is trying to outrun his past in this Goonies-esque adventure.
The Wolf of Wall Street, as the mentally askew business mogul who shapes young Jordan Belfort's future.
"Synthesizers": Alright alright alright! McConaughey dresses up in familiar duds in a video for the band Butch Walker and the Black Widow's song "Synthesizers," which is an ode to letting your freak flag fly and not being a slave to newest passing trend. The actor wearing his signature outfit from the Linklater classic Dazed and Confused, the film that originally put the actor on the map.
AMY ADAMS, NOMINATED FOR AMERICAN HUSTLE , WAS ALSO IN...
Her, as a human.
Man of Steel, as a journalist.
CATE BLANCHETT, NOMINATED FOR BLUE JASMINE, WAS ALSO IN...
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, but not the barrel-rolling scene, so we kind of forgot about her.
The Turning: The actress took part in The Turning, a film made up of a collection of short films based on the stories by Tim Winton, with directors as diverse as Mia Wasikowska and Jonathan auf der Heide. Blanchett originally planned to direct a short herself, but switched to solely an acting role.
SANDRA BULLOCK, NOMINATED FOR GRAVITY, WAS ALSO IN...
The Heat, which, for our money, was really her best performance of the year.
JUDI DENCH, NOMINATED FOR PHILOMENA, WAS ALSO IN...
A National Theatre Live episode, as Cleopatra!
BRADLEY COOPER, NOMINATED FOR AMERICAN HUSTLE, WAS ALSO IN...
The Hangover Part III, sorry to remind you.
MICHAEL FASSBENDER, NOMINATED FOR 12 YEARS A SLAVE, WAS ALSO IN...
The Counselor, which was about... uh... wait, we know this one...
JONAH HILL, NOMINATED FOR THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, WAS ALSO IN...
This Is the End, in which he kind of plays the same role, if you think about it.
SALLY HAWKINS, NOMINATED FOR BLUE JASMINE, WAS ALSO IN...
The Double, that Sundance flick about Jesse Eisenberg's big coat.
JENNIFER LAWRENCE, NOMINATED FOR BLUE JASMINE, WAS ALSO IN...
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, duh.
The Devil You Know: This soapy thriller from all the way back in 2007 was stuck in distibution limbo for years, but after Lawrence catapulted to stardom and Oscar glory, the film was released on VOD this past July. Just to show how much times have changed, Lawrence was barely in the film's original trailer, something that would never happen today, given her new found success.
JUNE SQUIBB, NOMINATED FOR NEBRASKA, WAS ALSO IN...
Getting On: Squibb appeared in an episode of HBO's very funny hospital dramedy Getting On, which is a remake of a BBC show of the same name. The actress appears in the second episode of the series titled "If You're Going to San Francisco."
The Millers, but you don't have to watch that.
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Gravity was the toast of the Broadcast Film Critics Association's 19th annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards on Thursday (16Jan14). The science-fiction film nabbed seven awards, including a Best Actress In An Action Movie prize for Sandra Bullock and a Best Director honour for Alfonso Cuaron.
The multiple wins bookended a successful day for the moviemaker and company - Gravity led the pack for Oscar nominations, which were announced on Thursday morning. The film picked up 10 nods including Best Picture, Best Actress (Bullock) and Best Director.
David O. Russell's American Hustle was a four-prize winner at the Critics Choice Awards. The cast was honoured with the Best Acting Ensemble and the movie was named Best Comedy, while Amy Adams added another trophy to her haul when she landed the Best Actress in a Comedy trophy.
Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave was also a multiple winner - the slavery drama bagged the Best Picture honour and Lupita Nyong'o choked back tears as she accepted the Best Supporting Actress accolade for her role as Patsey. The film's writer, John Ridley, was also feted with the Best Adapted Screenplay award.
And hard-hitting drama Dallas Buyers Club also scored victories in two of the night's biggest categories - Jared Leto won the Best Supporting Actor award and Matthew McConaughey walked away with the Best Actor honour, while Cate Blanchett took home the Best Actress award for Blue Jasmine and Leonardo DiCaprio won gold in the Best Actor in a Comedy category for The Wolf of Wall Street.
DiCaprio's other 2012/2013 movie The Great Gatsby was also among the multiple film winners, as was Lone Survivor and animated hit Frozen.
One of the night's highlights came when Oprah Winfrey took the stage in Santa Monica, California to present her The Butler co-star Forest Whitaker with the Joel Siegel Award for his humanitarian efforts and work with the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, which he founded in 2012.
Praising the actor, Winfrey told the crowd, "In his most recent role in Lee Daniels' The Butler, I had the privilege of seeing first hand how Forest suddenly and so masterfully embodies the soul of a character. He is indeed a great actor, but let me tell you my friends, he is for sure an even greater man.
"He is devoted to his family, he loves life and he cares deeply about our earth and its people. I just marvel at his remarkable humanitarian efforts."
The full list of winners is as follows:
Best Picture - 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor - Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Actress - Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Best Acting Ensemble - Cast of American Hustle
Best Director - Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
Best Original Screenplay - Spike Jonze (Her)
Best Adapted Screenplay - John Ridley (12 Years a Slave)
Best Supporting Actor - Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Supporting Actress - Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)
Best Young Actor/Actress - Adele Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color)
Best Cinematography - Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity)
Best Art Direction - Catherine Martin and Beverley Dunn (The Great Gatsby)
Best Editing - Alfonso Cuaron and Mark Sanger (Gravity)
Best Costume Design - Catherine Martin (The Great Gatsby)
Best Hair and Makeup - American Hustle
Best Visual Effects - Gravity
Best Animated Feature - Frozen
Best Action Movie - Lone Survivor
Best Actor In An Action Movie - Mark Wahlberg (Lone Survivor)
Best Actress In An Action Movie - Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
Best Comedy - American Hustle
Best Actor In A Comedy - Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Best Actress In A Comedy - Amy Adams (American Hustle)
Best Sci-fi/Horror Movie - Gravity
Best Foreign Language Film - Blue is the Warmest Color
Best Documentary Feature - 20 Feet from Stardom
Best Song - Let It Go by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Frozen)
Best Score - Steven Price (Gravity)
Louis XIII Genius Award - Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Richard Linklater
Joel Siegel Award - Forest Whitaker

American Hustle, Gravity and 12 Years A Slave look set to dominate the 2014 Academy Awards. The movies will go head-to-head for Best Picture along with Captain Phillips, Nebraska, Philomena, Dallas Buyers Club, Her and The Wolf of Wall Street.
British stars Christian Bale (American Hustle) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave) both scored a mention for Best Actor, while American Hustle's Amy Adams will go head-to-head with Gravity's Sandra Bullock for Best Actress.
Other actresses nominated in the category are Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Judi Dench (Philomena) and Meryl Streep (August: Osage County).
Last year's (13) winner of the Best Actress trophy, Jennifer Lawrence, will compete for Best Supporting Actress for her role in American Hustle, while Bradley Cooper landed a Best Supporting Actor nod for his role in the crime caper.
12 Years A Slave co-stars Lupita Nyong'o and Michael Fassbender also picked up nods for their supporting roles, while the film's director Steve McQueen and American Hustle's David. O. Russell both landed nominations for Best Director along with Gravity's Alfonso Cuaron.
Speaking shortly after the nominations were announced, British moviemaker McQueen told the BBC, "(I am) just very excited - nine nominations. A lot of them (the Oscar nominees are) British. I am just so excited. We worked very hard and are very privileged to receive these nominations."
While O. Russell admits he is thrilled that all four of his film's main actors picked up nods, adding, "It's all four actors... you always worry as sort of the captain... that one of your great performers is not going to get recognised... they all put so much into it and they did it together so it's nice that none of them got left out."
American Hustle and Gravity both scored 10 nominations, while 12 Years A Slave landed nine.
The nominations were announced by actor Chris Hemsworth and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs on Thursday (16Jan14), and the winners will be unveiled during the Los Angeles prizegiving on 2 March (14).
The full list of nominees is as follows:
Best Picture:
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
12 Years A Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street
Directing:
David O. Russell - American Hustle
Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity
Alexander Payne - Nebraska
Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave
Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street
Actor in a Leading Role:
Christian Bale - American Hustle
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club
Actress in a Leading Role:
Amy Adams - American Hustle
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock - Gravity
Judi Dench - Philomena
Meryl Streep - August: Osage County
Actor in a Supporting Role:
Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years A Slave
Jonah Hill - The Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Actress in a Supporting Role:
Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
June Squibb - Nebraska
Adapted Screenplay:
Before Midnight - Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
Captain Phillips - Billy Ray
Philomena - Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope
12 Years A Slave - John Ridley
The Wolf of Wall Street - Terence Winter
Original Screenplay:
American Hustle - Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell
Blue Jasmine - Woody Allen
Dallas Buyers Club - Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack
Her - Spike Jonze
Nebraska - Bob Nelson
Animated Feature Film:
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
The Wind Rises
Cinematography:
The Grandmaster - Philippe Le Sourd
Gravity - Emmanuel Lubezki
Inside Llewyn Davis - Bruno Delbonnel
Nebraska - Phedon Papamichael
Prisoners - Roger A. Deakins
Costume Design:
American Hustle - Michael Wilkinson
The Grandmaster - William Chang Suk Ping
The Great Gatsby - Catherine Martin
The Invisible Woman - Michael O'Connor
12 Years A Slave - Patricia Norris
Documentary Feature:
The Act of Killing
Cutie and the Boxer
Dirty Wars
The Square
20 Feet from Stardom
Documentary Short Subject:
Cavedigger
Facing Fear
Karama Has No Walls
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall
Film Editing:
American Hustle - Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers, Alan Baumgarten
Captain Phillips - Christopher Rouse
Dallas Buyers Club - John Mac McMurphy, Martin Pensa
Gravity - Alfonso Cuaron, Mark Sanger
12 Years A Slave - Joe Walker
Foreign Language Film:
The Broken Circle Breakdown
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
The Missing Picture
Omar
Makeup And Hairstyling:
Dallas Buyers Club
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
The Lone Ranger
Music - Original Score:
The Book Thief
Gravity
Her
Philomena
Saving Mr. Banks
Music - Original Song:
Alone Yet Not Alone by Bruce Broughton and Dennis Spiegel, from Alone Yet Not Alone
Happy by Pharrell Williams, from Despicable Me 2
Let it Go by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, from Frozen
The Moon Song by Karen O, from Her
Ordinary Love by U2, from Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom
Production Design:
American Hustle
Gravity
The Great Gatsby
Her
12 Years A Slave
Sound Editing:
All Is Lost
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lone Survivor
Sound Mixing:
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor
Visual Effects:
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
The Lone Ranger
Star Trek Into Darkness.

FOX Searchlight
Here are our picks for who will win, and (more importantly) who should win the film awards at the 2014 Golden Globes.
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion PictureMichael Fassbender, 12 Years a SlaveJared Leto, Dallas Buyers ClubBradley Cooper, American HustleDaniel Bruhl, RushBarkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Will Win: Michael FassbenderShould Win: Michael FassbenderThe supporting actor category has long been the domain of film's best villains, and it's hard to argue when actors continue to put forth powerful performances like Michael Fassbender's turn as the contemptible slave owner Edward Epps in 12 Years a Slave. Fassbender made his character a putrid mix of brutally cruel and embarrasingly pathetic.
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion PictureLupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a SlaveJennifer Lawrence, American HustleJulia Roberts, August: Osage CountyJune Squibb, NebraskaSally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Will Win: Luptia Nyong'oShould Win Luptia Nyong'oLuptia Nyong'o shows an incredible amount of strength in the face of unspeakable adversity as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave. The young actress gives an attention grabbing performance and proves that she can hold her own in scenes with actors like Michael Fassbender and Chiwetal Eijiofor.
Best Actor in a Motion Picture, DramaChiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a SlaveMatthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips Robert Redford, All Is Lost Idris Elba, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Will Win: Chiwetel EjioforShould Win: Robert RedfordChiwetel Ejiofor came out of nowhere and wowed critics and audiences alike with his searing performance as Solomon Northrup in 12 Years a Slave, but we think Robert Redford had the strongest performance of the year with his turn as the marooned sailor in All is Lost.
Best Actress in a Motion Picture, DramaCate Blanchett, Blue JasmineSandra Bullock, GravityEmma Thompson, Saving Mr. BanksJudi Dench, PhilomenaKate Winslet, Labor Day
Will Win: Cate BlanchettShould Win: Cate BlanchettEver since she wowed audiences in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, Cate Blanchett has been the heavy favorite to win the Best Actress category. This should be an easy win for the actress, whose performance in the film is worthy of all the praise.
Best ScreenplayJohn Ridley, 12 Years a SlaveBob Nelson, NebraskaEric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, American HustleJeff Pope and Steve Coogan, PhilomenaSpike Jonze, Her
Will Win: American HustleShould Win: HerWe're betting that American Hustle's witty heist script takes the top honor in this category, but we felt the most moved by Spike Jonze's searingly emotional and romantic script for Her.
Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or ComedyBruce Dern, NerbaskaLeonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall StreetChristian Bale, American HustleOscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn DavisJoaquin Phoenix, Her
Will Win: Christian BaleShould Win: Bruce DernThis category is pretty much a toss-up, and could go any number of ways. Isaac would be a well-deserved surprise, and although DiCaprio and Phoenix have both received multiple nods in the past, it's hard to picture them winning this time around. Dern, meanwhile, has won incredible reviews and a few early awards for his performance, and could ride this nomination to a victory (and maybe even another at the Oscars). But all in all, Bale is probably the safeest choice, considering his devotion to the off-the-wall, highly emotional role in David O. Russell's latest.
Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy Meryl Streep, August: Osage County Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Enough Said Amy Adams, American Hustle Julie Delpy, Before Midnight Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
Will Win: Meryl Streep Should Win: Greta GertwigAlmost every time that Streep is nominated for an award, she takes home the prize - and rightly so, as she is one of the best actors of our time. However, in this case, it would be nice to see the HFPA break away from the safe choice and go with Gertwig, whose performance in Frances Ha was at once charming, realistic, and extremely compelling.
Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy Nebraska American Hustle The Wolf of Wall Street Inside Llewyn Davis Her
Will Win: American Hustle Should Win: Inside Llewyn DavisAmerican Hustle tied for the most Golden Globe nominations this year, making it clear that the HFPA are big fans of the film, which means it’s highly likely that the heist film will take home the prize. However, Inside Llewyn Davis has been hailed as the best Coen Brothers' movie yet, and it would be wonderful to see the moving, engaging film win.
Best DirectorAlfonso Cuaron, GravitySteve McQueen, 12 Years a SlaveDavid O. Russell, American HustlePaul Greengrass, Captain PhillipsAlexander Payne, Nebraska
Will Win: 12 Years a SlaveShould Win: 12 Years a SlaveWhile Steve McQueen's brutal slavery saga will probably take home the prize, Alfonso Cuaron created a terrifyingly authentic feeling version of space that had us wondering if the director actually threw his cameras into the stratosphere before filming. The Gravity helmer embued his film with boundless invention and techinical wizardry, while never loosing the sight of the characters at the center of his space disaster.
Best Motion Picture, Drama12 Years a SlaveGravityCaptain PhillipsRushPhilomena
Will Win: GravityShould Win: 12 Years a SlaveIn the biggest showdown of the night, we have a feeling that the HFPA will go light and choose the life-affirming blockbuster Gravity over the glum 12 Years a Slave, and leave the more serious fare for the Academy Awards. While we loved Gravity for all its CGI might, we would give the Best Picture to 12 Years a Slave, a movie that will stay in our hearts and minds for many years to come.
Best Animated Feature FilmFrozenThe CroodsDespicable Me 2
Will Win: FrozenShould Win: FrozenWith Frozen, Disney deliverd a wonderfully sweet subversion of the princess movie, and created a new set of princesses for modern era. Frozen is a brilliant film filled with drama, action, and humor, but most importantly, it places the relationship of two sister's at it's coursing heart.
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Lions Gate via Everett Collection
When we last left our heroes, they had conquered all opponents in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, returned home to their newly refurbished living quarters in District 12, and fallen haplessly to the cannibalism of PTSD. And now we're back! Hitching our wagons once again to laconic Katniss Everdeen and her sweet-natured, just-for-the-camera boyfriend Peeta Mellark as they gear up for a second go at the Capitol's killing fields.
But hold your horses — there's a good hour and a half before we step back into the arena. However, the time spent with Katniss and Peeta before the announcement that they'll be competing again for the ceremonial Quarter Quell does not drag. In fact, it's got some of the film franchise's most interesting commentary about celebrity, reality television, and the media so far, well outweighing the merit of The Hunger Games' satire on the subject matter by having Katniss struggle with her responsibilities as Panem's idol. Does she abide by the command of status quo, delighting in the public's applause for her and keeping them complacently saturated with her smiles and curtsies? Or does Katniss hold three fingers high in opposition to the machine into which she has been thrown? It's a quarrel that the real Jennifer Lawrence would handle with a castigation of the media and a joke about sandwiches, or something... but her stakes are, admittedly, much lower. Harvey Weinstein isn't threatening to kill her secret boyfriend.
Through this chapter, Katniss also grapples with a more personal warfare: her devotion to Gale (despite her inability to commit to the idea of love) and her family, her complicated, moralistic affection for Peeta, her remorse over losing Rue, and her agonizing desire to flee the eye of the public and the Capitol. Oftentimes, Katniss' depression and guilty conscience transcends the bounds of sappy. Her soap opera scenes with a soot-covered Gale really push the limits, saved if only by the undeniable grace and charisma of star Lawrence at every step along the way of this film. So it's sappy, but never too sappy.
In fact, Catching Fire is a masterpiece of pushing limits as far as they'll extend before the point of diminishing returns. Director Francis Lawrence maintains an ambiance that lends to emotional investment but never imposes too much realism as to drip into territories of grit. All of Catching Fire lives in a dreamlike state, a stark contrast to Hunger Games' guttural, grimacing quality that robbed it of the life force Suzanne Collins pumped into her first novel.
Once we get to the thunderdome, our engines are effectively revved for the "fun part." Katniss, Peeta, and their array of allies and enemies traverse a nightmare course that seems perfectly suited for a videogame spin-off. At this point, we've spent just enough time with the secondary characters to grow a bit fond of them — deliberately obnoxious Finnick, jarringly provocative Johanna, offbeat geeks Beedee and Wiress — but not quite enough to dissolve the mystery surrounding any of them or their true intentions (which become more and more enigmatic as the film progresses). We only need adhere to Katniss and Peeta once tossed in the pit of doom that is the 75th Hunger Games arena, but finding real characters in the other tributes makes for a far more fun round of extreme manhunt.
But Catching Fire doesn't vie for anything particularly grand. It entertains and engages, having fun with and anchoring weight to its characters and circumstances, but stays within the expected confines of what a Hunger Games movie can be. It's a good one, but without shooting for succinctly interesting or surprising work with Katniss and her relationships or taking a stab at anything but the obvious in terms of sending up the militant tyrannical autocracy, it never even closes in on the possibility of being a great one.
3.5/5
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Had recurring role of Eve Simpson on the CBS drama "Murder, She Wrote"

Had second lead in "Bright Victory"

Featured on the daytime series, "General Hospital"

Summary

For generations of moviegoers, the name Julie Adams conjured up an arresting black-and-white image of the actress swimming gracefully through the murky waters of the Amazon - actually, Wakulla Springs in Florida - while the Gill-Man, the scaly man-fish monster in "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954), glided below her, captivated by her presence in his environment. The film, one of the greatest titles in science fiction history, came to encapsulate Adams' career, though she had been an in-demand actress, most notably in Westerns, since the late 1940s. Despite its popularity, "Creature" did little for her film career, but she became one of the most recognizable faces on television, providing poised, highly professional guest turns on series from the early 1960s through the first decade of the 21st century. If she bore any ill will towards her "Creature" typecasting, Adams did not show it, as the title of her 2011 autobiography, <i>The Lucky Southern Star: Reflections from the Black Lagoon</i>, clearly illustrated. If never a household name, Julie Adams enjoyed both exceptional career longevity and the lasting fame afforded to a cult icon.